This invention pertains fasteners, and more particularly fasteners which have expandable legs and which attach one object to another object. It also pertains combinations of one or more objects with said fastener(s), parts or objects connected with the fastener(s), as well as vehicles comprising parts connected with said fastener(s).
In the original conventional technology of fasteners employed to securely attach one object to another, such as for example one part to another in the case of an automobile or an appliance, has utilized a nut on one of the two objects, usually welded or glued to the back of said object, and a bolt passing through a hole on the second object in a manner to be engaged by the nut, thereby securing the two objects together.
This arrangement presents many problems, among which, one of the most important is that in the case that one object is hollow, the nut has to be in place at the back of the hollow object before assembling the two objects together. If for any reason the nut is misplaced, and/or if it becomes desirable to introduce a new fastening connection between the two objects, the task of achieving such connection becomes very difficult, if not impossible, for all practical purposes.
The so-called xe2x80x9cquick nutsxe2x80x9d have also been used to connect two objects. In addition, vibration during the operation of a device, such as an automobile or appliance for example, containing the two objects results very often in loosening of the bolt or xe2x80x9cquick nutxe2x80x9d and in either full disassembling of the objects from each other, or in a vibration noise which is most annoying and often of unacceptable levels. Further, such connections are not water-resistant and water may be easily penetrate the connection point and be transferred from one side of one or both objects to the other side.
Fasteners of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,238 (Vassiliou) have been utilized to reduce considerably the potential of bolt or screw loosening and vibration. They have also eliminated the problem of having to place one member of the fastener at the back portion of the hollow object. These fasteners are placed through a slot from the front part of the hollow object. The second part of the fastener, being usually a bolt or a screw, supports the second object by forcing the legs of the fastener (as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,238) to open or expand, thereby securing the two objects together. The fasteners of this type have greatly improved the prevailing torque (torque required to render a screw loose), as well as the pulling force (pulling force applied on a screw to the point of failure) of the system.
The fasteners of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,238 have a funnel portion into which an expanding is driven for expanding the legs of the fastener. This funnel has a bucket-like shape which has been impressed on the legs during the manufacture of the fastener. This impression derived funnel is rather inflexible and in some occasions has a tendency to drive the expanding member in undesired direction.
An example of fasteners having oblong funnels is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,280,129 B1 (Lowry et al.), which is incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,443 (Lowry et al.), which is also incorporated herein by reference, discloses a spring fastener having a Y-shaped cut funnel, and which may eliminate, if so desired, barbs which are used to support the fastener in one of the parts to be connected together by said fastener. In addition, the funnel configuration may be used to provide additional engagement, a very desirable attribute in a plurality of occasions. However, the mechanism of the additional engagements is shown to be under the panel or object to which the fastener is secured, and the counter force developed, when pulling of the expanding member occurs, is considerably weaker than that of the present invention.
A large number of advantages are derived from the critical configuration of the funnel of the present invention, which produces jamming and clamping of the expanding member within the slot into which the fastener is inserted, resulting to highly improved pulling force, as described in detail hereinbelow. In addition, the fastener of the present invention may be used in slots of different widths without any problems of rattling noises. Further, the fastener of this invention may be pulled easily out of the slot, if so desired, in contrast with the fasteners of the present state in the art, which are destroyed when pulled, due to the barbs been presently utilized.
In the text presented below, the following comments and definitions are appropriate:
The expanding member is preferably a screw having threads and a root on which the threads are supported.
Pitch of a screw is defined as the distance between two consecutive threads of the screw.
Engageable hole or region is an at least partial hole or region which can be engaged with a screw, or similar element.
At least partial hole may be a part of a hole, such as an arc for example. However, the hole does not have to be round.
Curved portion is defined as a portion having a non-linear configuration, even if it comprises smaller non-aligned linear sections, such as saw tooth for example.
This invention is related to a combination of a first object, such as a panel for example, having a slot and a fastener comprising:
(a) a substantially flat head portion having an engageable hole through which an expanding member can pass through and engage;
(b) a neck having an opening and two side neck portions, the neck extending from the lower side of the substantially flat head portion at a substantially right angle with respect to the substantially flat head portion;
(c) two substantially flat legs extending from the neck, each leg having an inner surface and a contact region, the two inner surfaces of the two legs being at an initial proximity with each other, the legs being expandable in opposite directions upon inserting the expanding member; and
(d) a Y-shaped funnel in the vicinity of the contact region, the Y-shaped funnel having a first width, and funnel sides having been formed by partially cut leg portions extending outwardly from the legs, funnel bents, and inwardly bent portions with edges, the inwardly bent portions being of adequate size so as to partially extend into the slot of the first object, when the fastener is positioned in the slot.
This invention also pertains a fastener comprising:
(a) a substantially flat head portion having an engageable hole through which an expanding member can pass through and engage;
(b) a neck having an opening and two side neck portions, the neck extending from the lower side of the substantially flat head portion at a substantially right angle with respect to the substantially flat head portion;
(c) two substantially flat legs extending from the neck, each leg having an inner surface and a contact region, the two inner surfaces of the two legs being at an initial proximity with each other, the legs being expandable in opposite directions upon inserting the expanding member; and
(d) a Y-shaped funnel in the vicinity of the contact region, the Y-shaped funnel having a first width, and funnel sides having been formed by partially cut leg portions extending outwardly from the legs, funnel bents, and inwardly bent portions with edges, the inwardly bent portions being of adequate size so as to partially extend into a slot of a first object, when the fastener is positioned in the slot.
The head of the fastener may have an upper side and a lower side or it may have a single side corresponding to the lower side. Fasteners having single sided heads are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,864 B1, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The hole may be substantially round having a diameter, and the funnel may preferably have a first width longer than the diameter of the hole. The hole may also comprise an oblong opening having a second width, the second width being preferably at least as long as the first width.
Preferably, the expanding member has threads, a root, and a pitch.
The inwardly bent upper portions may have curved portions or partial holes. The funnel bents may comprise ribs for increasing structural integrity.
As also aforementioned, when water-proofing, and/or gas-proofing are desired for a particular application, and/or vibration noises are to be prevented, an elastic body is preferably integrally molded at least at the lower side of the substantially flat head portion. Such elastic bodies are for example disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,725,343 (Smith), and 6,379,092 (Patel et al.) both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
An elastic body 7, as aforementioned, is exemplified in FIG. 8.
The funnel bents are preferably separated by a distance larger than the width of said slot.
Also, preferably, each of the funnel bents is separated from the lower side of the head by a distance smaller than the thickness of the first object.
The bents have preferably an angle which is adequately large to allow the fastener to be removed from the first object without destruction of said fastener, when the removal takes place solely from the side of the first object, wherein the head of the fastener is positioned.
The fasteners of this invention may comprise more than one engagement regions, as disclosed for example, in non-provisional application 09/699,760 (Vassiliou), filed Oct. 30, 2000, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention further pertains parts connected with the above described spring fasteners and/or combinations, as well as vehicles comprising parts connected with the above described spring fasteners.